Academy of Our Lady of Good Counsel - Aloysian Yearbook (Aloysian, NY)

Page 31 text:

4. pf. , Act The days before the holidays flew by, crowded with homework, exams and report cards. One of the highlights of the year was Good Counsel's ioining the C.Y.O., and it was with no small feeling of pride that we watched many of our class- mates, under the expert direction of Miss Ruth Gibney, help the team to make third place. We took a real interest in Latin this year and after giving Cicero a first-class funeral, displayed our linguistic talents in a Latin production at Christmas time. After the Christmas holidays our school life was filled with many exciting activities. One of our classmates triumphed in the annual spelling bee. The iournal- istic endeavors of some were crowned by admission into Quill and Scroll. Soon followed the unprecedented and very enioyable sodality dance with Xavier High School. For three days in May the sound of chapel bells summoned us during our second retreat, it was given by the Reverend Alfred E. Barrett, S.J., who helped us to gain a clearer and holier outlook on life. lt was also during this month that the Academy was honored by being given a foremost position at the Mary's Day celebration at the newly opened Archbishop Stepinac High School. We walked off with top laurels at the C.Y.O. track meet, we were treated by our little sisters to a day at the Bronx Zoo, then our hours were filled with practice for the Glee Club concert. During the next week several long-awaited dreams came true for us. We attended our first tea dance at G.C.A., gave a farewell banquet to the seniors, and for the last time were spectators at the ceremonies of Class Day and Graduation. Next year we would have the leading roles. IV: The curtain rose on the final act of our high school drama with all of us more than a little awe-struck at being seniors at last. We did our best to take over leader- ship in all things, but it was with a pardonable feeling of distinct superiority that we assumed the responsibility of the Aloysian. The final boast of our seniority came when we received our class rings. These we proudly displayed to our less fortunate underclassmen in a most senior-like manner. A long awaited desire was realized when during our day at the U.N. we saw history in the making. True to our reputation for renovations, we brought the Science Club back to life and our Valentine's Day party was one of the first social events of the year. We realized the true meaning of Christmas this year because we worked so hard during the preceding weeks to make Christmas happier for our family. Our holidays were made more enioyable by the inspiring Spanish Club Christmas pageant. Our return after the holidays was marked by Peg-O's celebration of its twentieth anniversary and the production for the third time of Peg O' My Heart. Against the backdrop of snow and icicles we were found busily delving into the mysteries of chemistry and the lives of Samuel Johnson and his contemporaries. The Caedmon iournalists took a day off for a trip to the New York Times during Lent. It wasn't so bad this time coming back to school after the Easter holidays as our return was heralded by the Xavier dance which is in fair way of becoming an annual event. We celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel with the reception of the new members into the Sodality, this was soon followed by the annual retreat, this year given by the Reverend Thomas J. O'Day, SJ., then, almost before we realized it, June was here, bringing with it our annual tea dance. Our enioyment of this and our pride at being guests of honor at the iunior-senior banquet were sadly tempered by our knowledge that we would be leaving G.C.A. so soon. Today is Class Day, and for the last time we stand here on the stage. As we remember our four years and the good times we have had at Good Counsel, we don't want to say goodbye, but the rule of life is that of the theatre, The show must go on. 27

Page 30 text:

Lgyild 515 0 Act l: As we look back on our first wavering steps across the stage in the opening scene of the drama of our four years at Good Counsel, certain events recall themselves vividly to our minds. lt was the welcome of our beloved principal, Sister Mary Anselm, that first put us at our ease, and made us sure that we would be happy at G.C.A. We became real members of Good Counsel at the party given us by our big sisters, the iuniors, in reparation for our week of typical freshman torture. As the scenes unfolded, we found that it wasn't hard to accustom ourselves to Latin and algebra, but a few of us did have qualms when it came to dissecting grass- hoppers and other specimens as our biology course required. After we had success- fully weathered our mid-year exams, we began to take part in the extra-curricular activities of our school. Many of us were received into the Children of Mary Sodality, and thus we felt the bond between ourselves and Our Lady of Good Counsel more strongly secured. All of us became potential actresses after seeing our first Peg-O play, Spring Green, and were given a chance to show our talents in the school play, Harriet, in June. Perhaps the most impressive event of our freshman year was our first retreat, which left us with a feeling of peace after a year well spent. So it was that with the traditions of Class Day and the solemn splendor of Graduation we entered the first act of our drama. Act ll: The curtain rose swiftly on our sophomore year. lt found us in the act of renew- ing old acquaintances, pausing now and then to gaze sympathetically at the new freshmen passing by. For the first few months we were dizzily engaged in exploring the minds of Julius Caesar and Euclid, and accustoming ourselves to the peculiarities of French and Spanish. Now that we were sophomores, some of us took time from our labors to become members of O Tempora, O Mores, Luis de Leon, Les Americaines Francaises, and Peg-O. At the annual bazaar we expended every effort to promote our class proiect, the wardrobe doll, and thereby help secure our traditional holiday for outstanding cooperation. Our Christmas holidays this year were more remarkable than most because of the blizzard which accompanied them and lent the new term a more than ordinary picturesque touch. We started the New Year off smoothly by going ice skating at Playland, and then settled down to real hard work which included our successful efforts to rank first in the Bishop's War Relief Fund. Our interest in this year's Peg-O play was a personal one for in Under Twenty some of our classmates made their stage debut. For the first time we represented our school in World Sodality Day at Fordham University and were proud of this opportunity to honor our Blessed Mother. At last, after many grueling days of study, we reached the climax of our scholastic endeavors and were introduced to our first high school regents. The events of Class Day and Graduation sped all too swiftly by, and it wasn't long before we bade a last farewell to our big sisters. Act Ill: Upperclassmenl That word had a special meaning for us because it meant that we would play a part in school affairs second only to that of the seniors. Now we were iuniors, and among our privileges was that of welcoming the new freshmen to G.C.A. One of our honor duties as iuniors was the assumption of the editorship of the Chit Chat, and looking back on those busy days, we think we did a pretty good iob! 26

Page 32 text:

HISTORY OF THE PEG-O DRAMATIC CLUB On a bright June evening in 1930 the Peg-O Dramatic Club, boasting nine members, presented its first play Peg O' My Heart. This year, 1950, the twentieth anniver- sary ot' Peg-O, it presented the title play at Good Counsel for the third time. The club was originally formed as an activity for the day students and as cn means of fostering dramatic ability in the Academy. Sister Mary Clement has been its moderator these twenty years and Peg-O attributes its success to herexper t direction. When in October of the following year, 1931, the first officers were elected, the dramatic club's unusual pin was designed by one of the charter members, and the twenty-eight Peg-O's chose as their colors crimson and silver. No year was ever complete without the Peg-O annual outing. ln the spring of 1931, one of the Peg-O's, Miriam Hall, invited the girls to spend the day at her cottage at Fairfield Beach. This outing was repeated for several years, then the members decided to have their annual outing ai' Playlclnd in Rye, New York. As Sister Mary Clement looks back through the years, she says that many names and many plays stand out in her memory. Among the favcrfte presentations have been: Smilin' Through, Daddy Long Legs, After Wimpole Street, Anne of Green Gables, Annie Laurie, Spring Green, Enter Angela, and the unfor- gettable Peg O' My Heart. The celebrated members whom all Peg-O's could take for their examples are: Amalia Sestero, who played Robert Browning in After Wimpole Street , Marie McCarthy, who was Daddy Long Legs , Mary Keefer, who played Judy in Daddy Long Legs , and Patricia Gallagher, the star of Enter Angela. AFTER WlMPOLE STREET 1936 ENTER ANGELA 1946 SPRING GREEN 1947 EIGHTEEN IN JUNE 1949+ 4'UNDER TWENTY 1948